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This weekend sees UFC 271 go down from Houston’s Toyota Center. In the main event, middleweight champion Israel Adesanya defends against former titleholder Robert Whittaker.
The last time these two men fought, Whittaker fell to a second-round knockout defeat at the hands of Adesanya. So, can ‘The Reaper’ turn things around this time?
If he wants to pull the victory off, the former champion will need to make a number of key adjustments, otherwise it’s very likely he’ll come out on the wrong end of things again.
So with that in mind, here are five adjustments Robert Whittaker needs to make to defeat Israel Adesanya at UFC 271.
#5. Robert Whittaker needs to take the fight into the later rounds
While Israel Adesanya has been the distance on seven occasions during his UFC career, including in four title bouts, it’s arguable that he isn’t quite so battle-hardened as Robert Whittaker.
Sure, ‘The Last Stylebender’ was pushed remarkably hard by Kelvin Gastelum in 2019 and impressed by ripping the fight away from the TUF 17 champion in the final round. However, the majority of his longer fights have seen him simply pick his opponents off from distance at a slower pace.
Adesanya certainly hasn’t been involved in the kind of wars that Whittaker was in against Yoel Romero. The Australian practically took a career’s worth of damage over a single 25-minute fight alone.
Naturally, that stands against ‘The Reaper’ for the most part, as no fighter would wish to withstand the kind of punishment he endured in those two clashes with the Cuban.
However, it is worth remembering that Whittaker has always excelled in the later rounds of fights and shown an incredible amount of heart and durability. It’s why he’s only been knocked out by Adesanya and Stephen Thompson – two strikers with pinpoint accuracy.
Therefore, if Whittaker can slow ‘The Last Stylebender’ down somehow – perhaps by looking to overpower him in the clinch – then a lot of what makes Adesanya dangerous might be neutralized. If the fight then heads into the later rounds, ‘The Reaper’ may be more suited to finding a way to gut out a win.
#4. Robert Whittaker needs to be willing to engage in Israel Adesanya’s type of fight
Since his initial loss to Israel Adesanya in October 2019, we’ve seen Robert Whittaker in action on three occasions, beating Darren Till, Jared Cannonier and Kelvin Gastelum.
All three bouts saw Whittaker win pretty clear-cut decisions, but they were all notable for showcasing a different side to ‘The Reaper’ than we’d seen before.
Once a more straight-ahead striker, Whittaker displayed more of a point-fighting style in those bouts, particularly in his clash with Till in July 2020. He showed more patience, footwork and movement than we’d seen from him before and was largely able to pick a dangerous foe apart.
Can Whittaker defeat a striker as precise as Adesanya in that kind of point-fighting bout? In all honesty, it’s unlikely, but the fact that he now seems capable of at least engaging in that style should give him a better shot at winning.
If ‘The Reaper’ is willing to fight in that style, he could well take Adesanya by surprise. It may throw the Nigerian-born New Zealander off his game, leaving him open to the kind of knockout shot that everyone knows Whittaker can produce.
#3. Robert Whittaker cannot afford to attempt to rush Israel Adesanya
The biggest mistake that Robert Whittaker made in his first meeting with Israel Adesanya was the fact that he attempted to force the fight. By doing that, he found himself rushing at ‘The Last Stylebender’ more than once.
Simply put, no fighter in the middleweight division can afford to rush in against Adesanya. He is just too accurate with his counterstrikes and too quick, and so an oncoming fighter in a hurry becomes like a walking target for him.
The likely explanation is that Whittaker was attempting to trigger some action in the fight, as it felt like Adesanya was willing to sit back and let the then-champion come to him. Basically, ‘The Reaper’ walked directly into a trap.
This time around, Whittaker needs to show far more patience if he wants to win. Sure, this kind of gameplan may well trigger some boos from a notoriously hard-to-please Texan crowd. However, at the end of the day, winning is more important than impressing the audience.
If ‘The Reaper’ isn’t willing to rush in, then the fight may resemble a staring contest for parts. That might play into his hands. If Adesanya ends up being the one to attempt to force the action, then he might make the first mistake, allowing Whittaker to capitalize.
#2. Robert Whittaker needs to protect his chin more efficiently
While Robert Whittaker has proven himself to be a highly durable fighter over his tenure with the UFC, the truth is that anyone can end up with a compromised chin if they take too much damage.
Whittaker’s chin was never completely infallible, as he was knocked out violently by Stephen Thompson's pinpoint strikes in 2014. However, ‘The Reaper’ then survived an insane amount of damage in two fights against Yoel Romero, suggesting he had no issue with his ability to weather shots.
So what does Israel Adesanya’s knockout win over Whittaker tell us? It probably points to one of two things. Either Adesanya and Thompson were the only fighters to land a truly clean shot on Whittaker, or the wars have begun to catch up with the Australian.
Either way, this means that ‘The Reaper’ simply can’t afford to leave his chin out there in this rematch with Adesanya. If ‘The Last Stylebender’ can catch him cleanly, he can knock him out again.
Therefore, a safety-first approach – almost like the one Whittaker took against the scarily powerful Jared Cannonier – is probably advised. Furthermore, he needs to avoid any trading unless Adesanya is hurt first.
Whittaker has never been a truly reckless fighter. However, if he wants to win this one, then he’ll need to be even more careful than before, even if it impacts his own ability to dish out punishment.
#1. Robert Whittaker should look to utilize some takedowns and ground Israel Adesanya
Perhaps the biggest difference between Robert Whittaker’s first meeting with Israel Adesanya and their upcoming rematch is the fact that ‘The Last Stylebender’ is no longer an unbeaten fighter.
Prior to his first meeting with Whittaker, nobody had solved the puzzle in terms of beating Adesanya. As we now know, ‘The Reaper’ himself failed miserably in his attempts to do so.
However, 2021 saw Adesanya move up to 205 lb to challenge then-UFC light heavyweight champion Jan Blachowicz in an attempt to become a double titleholder. While ‘The Last Stylebender’ fought well, he eventually came out on the wrong end of a decision.
So, what was the key to Blachowicz’s win? It was his takedowns, wrestling and top control. Nobody had really attempted to keep Adesanya on the ground prior to this fight, and if they did, they’d always come up short.
However, Blachowicz was able to ground Adesanya by quickly rushing in as ‘The Last Stylebender’ threw big strikes, forcing him to the ground with basically superior strength. Once he was on top, the Polish fighter was able to keep Adesanya grounded without much trouble by using short elbow strikes.
It wasn’t a flashy gameplan, but it was effective. Can Whittaker recreate it at UFC 271? On the face of it, definitely.
Sure, ‘The Reaper’ isn’t as big and strong as Blachowicz, but he’s an excellent wrestler in his own right. While he isn’t known for his takedowns, anyone who can hang with Yoel Romero in that department probably has a powerful double leg in his arsenal.
Therefore, while it wouldn’t be smart for Whittaker to simply spam takedowns, it’d definitely be worth attempting to catch a striking Adesanya and power him to the ground. If he can do that enough times, it could be the key to a victory for him.
